


Awkward Situations

by Tarlan



Series: Balance [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: mcsheplets, First Time, M/M, Post-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-14
Updated: 2012-03-14
Packaged: 2017-11-01 22:58:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/362202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney has to accept that he is once more in a Balance relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward Situations

**Author's Note:**

> Written for _Still in Love... with John and Rodney_  
>  Also meets:  
> prompt #118 Open Wound  
> prompt #16 New Arrivals

"They are staring at you." Radek indicated towards the people on nearby tables when they entered the mess hall.

"Huh?" Rodney glanced around. "Maybe they've finally realized my brilliance is all that's standing between them and becoming a Wraith snack."

After they had grabbed their lunch and a table, Radek jabbed him with an elbow. "Colonel Sheppard is approaching."

This time Rodney took a little more interest, unable to hide a hint of embarrassment when he finally put the staring and John Sheppard together and realized what gossip was traveling through the city at warp speed. Sheppard must have signed the Balance papers.

With the civilians outnumbering the military by three to one, the majority of those under Rodney's _command_ were not in Balance relationships. The arrival of the _Daedalus_ always brought changes and the possibility of being selected by one of the soldiers starting their new tour of duty on Atlantis, making it a source of concern to those currently unassigned or seeing the end of a Balance relationship. It also brought out the anti-Balance faction, though Rodney knew their protests were mumbling disapproval rather than outright dissent as every civilian on Atlantis had known they could be subjected to Balance when they applied to work with the military.

Sheppard reached the table and tried to look nonchalant but Rodney could see the hesitation in his eyes that equaled Rodney's discomfort. Rodney cleared his throat.

"Would you care to join me, Colonel?"

Sheppard smiled wryly. "A little formal under the circumstances, Rodney," he stated softly, but placed his tray on the table and pulled out the chair opposite.

Rodney followed the flick of Sheppard's gaze to Radek, who was looking both bemused and curious, staring between Rodney and Sheppard before finally asking, "Is this what I think it is?"

Sheppard gave an awkward half shrug as he picked up his knife and fork. "Depends on what you think it is."

"You have chosen Rodney for Balance." Sheppard licked his lower lip, neither denying nor confirming but, for Radek, that along with his unexpected presence at their table was enough to imply that it was true. Radek nodded sagely. "It would explain why you have come to Atlantis with a promotion, Lieutenant Colonel." He raised both hands when Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Not that a promotion was not deserved in any case. But it is expedient. Yes?"

Sheppard looked rueful but, again, made no denial, which proved he had figured it out. Rodney wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or pleased that the IOA and the military machine saw his current non-attachment as an important condition to rectify at the earliest opportunity. He knew Woolsey considered it _'not good for morale'_ for him to remain unattached while others in lower grades were _forced_ into Balance, though he had to admit that he might have preferred a certain blond astrophysics Colonel, if she had agreed to take over from Colonel Sewell as military head on Atlantis. However, Marshall Sumner had proved to Rodney that having a same gender Balance partner didn't necessarily have to be an ordeal, especially for those with an open mind and a willingness to experiment. He wouldn't go so far as to say Marshall turned him gay, but he had certainly broadened Rodney's horizons in a satisfying way.

"I still had a choice," Sheppard continued, and Rodney knew those words were for his benefit. Sheppard wanted him to know he wasn't forced to take on Rodney as his partner, but had purposefully chosen him from among a list of others of equal or lower status in the city--and the fact that his choice also happened to coincide with what the IOA and the SGC wanted was immaterial. Sheppard's lips twitched. "Kavanagh's name was on the list too," he stated in an offhand manner, timed to perfection as he gained the exact reaction he had no doubt anticipated when Radek began to choke on his coffee.

"You are an evil man, Colonel Sheppard," Radek rebuked once he had his cough under control, but his teasing had broken the ice with Radek in a way that Marshall had never managed. Though Rodney wondered if Kavanagh's poor reputation had preceded him or if Kavanagh had already managed to annoy Sheppard after only a few days on Atlantis. Certainly either was possible, especially as Sheppard must have come as Sewell's new 2IC, replacing Ford who was being rotated back to Earth--and Kavanagh did like to suck up to those in authority.

Bussing their trays together, Sheppard followed Rodney out of the mess hall and along the hall to the transporter; Rodney began to wring his hands nervously when Sheppard selected the living quarters from the transporter map. Woolsey had let Rodney keep the larger quarters that he had shared with Marshall but he suspected arrangements had already been made for Sheppard to move into them. Sure enough, he could see movement in the corridor ahead as two soldiers carried in the last of Sheppard's few belongings. They saluted, nodding in respect to Rodney after Sheppard murmured a response and sent them on their way.

For Rodney, it seemed weird walking into his quarters and finding an almost-stranger's belongings in the center of his room. Sheppard appeared just as awkward.

"Left or right?"

"What?"

"Which do you prefer? Left or right side of the bed?"

Rodney blinked in surprise at the question even though he knew what was expected of him. "Oh. Left." 

That gained a murmur of approval as it was furthest from the door, and Rodney suspected it might have something to do with the military mindset, wanting to be physically between their civilian and possible danger. Marshall had preferred to sleep on the right too, though unlike Sheppard, he had given Rodney no choice in the matter, even though it could have been resolved by simply rearranging the furniture. Sinking into a chair in the small lounging area, Rodney watched as Sheppard moved around the large room, finding space to store his uniforms and underwear with a little direction from Rodney. It helped that Rodney had taken time to make space after Sheppard had mentioned his Balance interest at their meeting in the corridor earlier that morning.

All too soon, everything was put away and Sheppard was standing in the center of the room looking anywhere but at Rodney.

"Colonel?" Rodney cleared his throat. "John?"

That gained a response and he watched as John scrubbed a hand through already unruly hair. "I'm not very good at this."

Rodney huffed out a laugh. "I'm not exactly the expert here either. Only two of my previous assignments were subject to Balance." Area 51 and the Ancient outpost in Antarctica were considered dangerous postings due to the high security surrounding them. "I... um. The ratio of civilians to military... I guess I wasn't much of a catch in those days." He cleared him throat again. "I am at times a... petty, vindictive... even jealous man. Marshall was my first Balance partner," he added.

John sank down onto the bed opposite Rodney and smiled. "Their loss."

"Hmm. True." He grinned, preening a little because he'd never had any complaints from Marshall.

As if reading Rodney's mind, John shrugged one shoulder and grimaced. "Woolsey gave us the rest of the day off."

Rodney nodded. It was customary to give a new Balance partnership a day to sort out the details of cohabitation, and to seal the physical side of the relationship. His smile faltered as the awkwardness of the moment came back to him. He would be expected to make some attempt to please Shep... John. At least in this case it wouldn't be non-consensual--for him anyway--whereas that first time with Marshall had not exactly... He pushed those thoughts away. He and Marshall had worked it out eventually, to the point of making a commitment to each other by exchanging rings.

Bitterly, he wondered if the Wraith stripped their victims or simply discarded the desiccated bodies once they had drained all the life from them. Lieutenant Ford had not been able to retrieve his commanding officer's body; not even his dog tags or exchange ring. It had left Rodney's heart an open wound that only time could heal, and he was suddenly grateful that Woolsey had given him that time to grieve.

Taking a deep breath, Rodney worked the ring from his finger and played with it for a moment, rolling it between his fingers as he tried to decide what to do with it. He looked up to find John watching him with a pained expression.

"Guess I won't be needing this any more."

"We don't have to rush into that side of..." John's words trailed off when Rodney put the ring in his pocket and began to undress.

After tugging off his shoes and socks, he looked up to see John swallowing visibly, and took another deep breath before standing up and dragging his t-shirt over his head. His hands were shaking a little when he reached for the zipper of his pants, but suddenly John was right in front of him, his strong fingers clamped around Rodney's wrist.

"We don't have to rush into this," he stated again, in a low, almost husky tone. He reached down and snagged Rodney's t-shirt from the floor, handing it back to Rodney. "I like Ferris wheels, college football, anything that goes more than 200 miles per hour... like your mouth," he teased.

"Oh ha ha!"

"I also like cheesy horror movies... and Superman is my favorite comic book hero."

"Oh please! Superman?" Rodney rolled his eyes in disgust. "Batman was a far greater comic book hero."

When they kissed for the first time, hours later, it was while sprawled over the bed as the end credits rolled on _The Dark Knight_ , and it seemed the most natural thing in the world. John ran his hand beneath Rodney's t-shirt, smoothing over his skin from belly to chest, his fingers sliding through fine chest hair to rub over a nipple. Rodney groaned from the spark of pleasure racing through him, feeling his cock stir as the kiss deepened and those clever fingers continued to tease sensitive flesh. When John urged him to pull off his t-shirt, Rodney almost elbowed him in the face in his rush to get half naked.

"Sorry, sorry!"

But John latched onto an exposed nipple, licking, sucking and biting, worrying at the tiny nub with tongue and teeth while Rodney gasped in the shockwave of pleasure. Some how he managed to get his pants undone, groaning in relief as his cock sprang free from the restrictive material only to gasp as the sensitive head dragged over the roughness of John's BDU pants again and again until John's hand wrapped around his cock, jacking him slowly; Rodney knew he couldn't last. It had been too long since he had a hand on his cock that wasn't his own.

"Stop. I can't... I'm going to..."

Instead of pulling back, John increased his efforts and Rodney felt as if he had shattered into a million tiny pieces as his orgasm crashed over him. Completely spent, it took a few minutes to realize John was caressing him gently.

"God! I'm so sorry. I..." Rodney reached for John's pants but his hand was gently pushed away, and only then did he notice the soft, lazy yet embarrassed smile and realize all the wetness at John's groin was not from him alone. "Fuck! That is so hot."

John laughed softly, his body losing a tenseness that Rodney hadn't even noticed until this moment, becoming soft and pliant as John wrapped an arm around him. They stayed that way for a few more minutes, before the slipperiness of cooling semen and damp clothing became too uncomfortable to bear.

"Next time I want us both naked," Rodney stated petulantly, hoping he hadn't chafed his cock by rubbing it over the rough military pants.

A few hours later, he got his wish.

END


End file.
